Thomas Tedesco

The Tommy Tedesco case is singular in California jazz history. A session guitarist among the most sought-after in Hollywood - thousands of recordings, film scores, pop records - chooses for his most personal statement the company of Bobby Bradford on trumpet and Roberto Miguel Miranda on bass, with Onaje Sherman Ferguson on drums and Sartuse on percussion. Not exactly the context of those Sinatra dates.

The result is a structurally sophisticated free jazz document. "The Doubleness of Three" superimposes 5/4 over 7/8, while Tedesco and Bradford weave melodic lines that chase each other without ever colliding. "The Azzier The Izz" explores harmolodic territory with the precision of someone who knows the rules well enough to break them. "Morning Tide," a three-part suite, grants both soloists space for timbral explorations of considerable range. Miranda and Ferguson provide a polymetric rhythmic fabric that transforms each piece into a shifting organism. Tedesco demonstrates here that session discipline does not preclude imagination - rather, it sharpens it. A record deserving critical attention well beyond its current obscurity.